Sir Thomas Matthews (8 August 1849 – 13 January 1930) was a British

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

, who was a notable builder of

lighthouses A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark ...

. He was the brother of Sir William Matthews, also a prominent civil engineer. During the late 19th and early 20th century Thomas Matthews was the Engineer-in-Chief of

Trinity House "Three In One" , formation = , founding_location = Deptford, London, England , status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity , purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons , he ...

Biography

Thomas Matthews was born in

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situ ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

, where he was the son of the Borough Surveyor, John Matthews. From 1868 to 1871 he assisted his father in providing drinking water for Penzance and the sea and harbour defences. For the following two years he practised as an architect and surveyor in Penzance and in 1874, he entered the employment of the United Kingdom's lighthouse service, Trinity House, as an assistant engineer. He succeeded Sir James Nicholas Douglass as Engineer-in-Chief when the latter retired in 1892. Matthews went on to design over a dozen lighthouses for Trinity House. He also worked on illumination systems, notably a lamp designed to burn oil vapour. Matthews' most significant achievement was the construction of

Beachy Head Beachy Head is a chalk headland in East Sussex, England. It is situated close to Eastbourne, immediately east of the Seven Sisters. Beachy Head is located within the administrative area of Eastbourne Borough Council which owns the land, for ...

Lighthouse. Completed in 1902, it was the last rock lighthouse built by Trinity House. The work took two years to finish; it involved building a coffer-dam and an aerial ropeway from the cliffs to transport materials.Beachy Head Lighthouse

, accessed 11-09-08

Lighthouses designed by Matthews

These included: * Bamburgh Lighthouse *

Lighthouse * Berry Head Lighthouse *

Black Nore Lighthouse Black Nore Lighthouse (also known as Blacknore Point Lighthouse) at Portishead, Somerset, England, was built in 1894. It is a Grade II listed building. Description The metal white-painted lighthouse was built by Trinity House to guide shipping ...

Cape Pembroke Cape Pembroke ( es, Cabo San Felipe) is the easternmost point of the Falkland Islands, and is on East Falkland. There is an automated lighthouse here. Lighthouse An automated lighthouse on Cape Pembroke was built in 1855, and rebuilt in 1906 ...

Lighthouse * Dungeness Lighthouses (High and Low) * East Usk Lighthouse * Egypt Point Lighthouse *

Lundy Lundy is an English island in the Bristol Channel. It was a micronation from 1925–1969. It forms part of the district of Torridge District, Torridge in the county of Devon. About long and wide, Lundy has had a long and turbulent history, ...

Lighthouses (North and South) * Lynmouth Foreland Lighthouse * St Mary's Lighthouse *

Spurn Head Spurn is a narrow sand tidal island located off the tip of the coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England that reaches into the North Sea and forms the north bank of the mouth of the Humber Estuary. It was a spit with a semi-permanent con ...

Lighthouse * Strumble Head Lighthouse *

Pendeen Lighthouse Pendeen Lighthouse, also known as Pendeen Watch is an active aid to navigation located to the north of Pendeen in west Cornwall, England. It is located within the Aire Point to Carrick Du SSSI, the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beaut ...

Peninnis Lighthouse Peninnis Lighthouse is situated on Peninnis Head, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly. History The light was built to replace the lighthouse in the centre of the island of St Agnes and helps vessels to enter Hugh Town harbour, via St Mary's Sound. It ...

Portland Bill Lighthouse Portland Bill Lighthouse is a functioning lighthouse at Portland Bill, on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. The lighthouse and its boundary walls are Grade II Listed. As Portland Bill's largest and most recent lighthouse, the Trinity ...

Withernsea Lighthouse Withernsea Lighthouse is an inland lighthouse that stands in the middle of the town of Withernsea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The lighthouse stands 127 feet (38 m) high and took 18 months to build between 1892 and 1894 ...

References

External links

Lighthouses built by Sir Thomas Matthews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Sir Thomas 1849 births 1930 deaths British civil engineers Engineers from Cornwall Lighthouse builders Knights Bachelor People from Penzance